realism
by grace-kellyy
Summary: because high school is too often romanticized as the best times of a person's life. though it is, in a sense — it's really not. [ rated for future chapters and themes ]


**Author's Notes:** Lo and behold, chapter one! So this chapter mainly deals with an introduction to some of the characters. I was inspired to make this fanfic because someone on my other account (which I will not disclose unless you guys _guess_) told me to — or rather, the person wanted me to get a wattpad account, but I decided to upload it here so.

**Warnings: **None yet.

_**Chapter summary: **In which the Arendelle sisters move from New York to Burgess, Pennsylvania, and thus marks the beginning of what Elsa deems as 'the nine circles of hell, all mushed into one building' — high school._

* * *

Elsa Arendelle sighed as she leaned her head on the car's window.

_Why did they have to move? _

Quite frankly, the platinum-blonde beauty had no idea why they needed to move from their lavish, comfortable three-story home in New York to move to a less-lavish, but most likely still comfortable place in Burgess, Pennsylvania. She was never a materialistic girl, counting her luxuries as blessings other than surplus items that can be thrown away the moment she grew bored of them; but that home held seventeen years' worth of family memories, memories that could never be replicated no matter what.

Now that she thought about it, though, it was probably the reason why they were moving; to escape the memories that came with the home.

She clicked the home button of her phone and was greeted by her lock screen wallpaper — her mother and father. Pardon, her _late _mother and father. Both were all smiles and happiness when she took that photo of them, merely a few months ago, on their 23rd wedding anniversary. Back then, nobody had an idea that in two months, the foundations of the Arendelle family would be gone, in a cruise accident.

Elsa had to blink back the tears threatening to spill from her icy orbs and and take a deep breath to calm herself; if not for her, then for the redheaded girl who was asleep, leaning on her shoulder.

_Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show. _

* * *

Anna Arendelle was far from asleep.

She, too, unbeknownst to her sister, was thinking about their moving, and was currently conflicted of her thoughts.

On one hand, she was incredibly excited — a new house in a new state meant meeting new people and making new friends; meeting new people and making new friends meant making more memories and opening more doors, having more opportunities. But on the other hand, as tempting as all of that sounded, she wasn't exactly ready to let go of all the memories she made with her family back in New York.

Anna knew she was supposed to be the more daring of the two sisters; Elsa was supposed to be the cool, calm, and collected one, the one to keep the both of them together in times when they seemed to be falling apart. Elsa was the winter to Anna's summer; the latter admired the former so much for being one of the strongest people she knew — but there were times when Anna would feel like Elsa was shutting her out, because it happened on more than once occasion. After their parents' death, her older sister would barely even talk to her, and she didn't know why.

But as days passed and Elsa wasn't opening the door, she began to understood. She began to understood that _how could Elsa keep them together if she herself was falling apart? _So Anna opened the door herself, and was greeted with the sight of a worse-for-wear, rapidly deteriorating Elsa.

Anna knew she was supposed to be the more daring of the two sisters, but now she was having second thoughts. Mostly because this time, she wanted to be the one to protect her older sister.

_Don't worry, Elsa. I'll fix you. I swear it._

* * *

"I guess that's the last of it!" Anna exclaimed happily, wiping her hands on her tattered jeans, then grabbing a handkerchief from a nearby table and wiping her face with it.

The two sisters were busy unpacking the whole day; they retreated to their respective rooms the moment their caretakers, Kai and Gerda, dropped them off at the new house to buy their school supplies.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, knocking on the other's door. "Can I come in?"

After an okay from the younger girl, the blonde gingerly opened the door, entered, and closed it almost inaudibly.

"Are you all settled in?" she asked.

The redhead gave her a grin and a thumbs up. This was one of the first times since their parents' passing that Elsa was the one to take initiative in their interactions. Anna was secretly relieved for this; maybe there was a chance of them mending bridges that had been long since torched down by their many differences and many different issues that prevented them from truly reaching out to each other.

"Elsa," she began, a warm smile gracing her face as she reached to take her sister's hand. Her smile faltered, however, when she noticed how the girl in question winced once her hands connected with her sister's. "I know this is hard for you— it's hard for me too, I swear— but we _will _get through this. You and I… we only have each other now; and though I still don't know what we're going to do… what I _do _know is that we'll make it. We'll be okay." She was beginning to get emotional; that would not do. "Besides," she tried, her smile turning mischievous, "snow days in Burgess are rumored to be the best."

Elsa cracked a smile.

Maybe there was still hope for mending bridges after all.

* * *

Less than a week later, the Arendelle sisters found themselves standing before Burgess High, the _very creatively named _high school in the town. It wasn't too shabby a building, but it didn't look very welcoming either. Though, Elsa supposed there was nothing in this world that could change her perception of this high school. Back in New York, she and Anna had gone to a private school; there, they made friends, frenemies, and the like — it had been good there, though hellish at times; Elsa didn't want to redo all of that again, meeting new people and learning new things weren't her thing. It was Anna's.

Speaking of, the younger girl was practically bouncing up and down with excitement at the sight of new people. Elsa bit back a smile at her antics; she was practically oozing naivety and innocence — the older girl was sure she'd make friends instantly.

"We still have to go to the office," she reminded Anna, tugging on her wrist and leading her inside the building. The other seemed to be too engrossed in watching people to walk on her own.

Curious stares were sent in their direction, murmurs of 'who's that?' and 'they must be the new kids' and 'duh, genius' were picked up by the blonde's ears, yet she paid them no heed as she continued her journey down the halls and into the principal's office. The two sisters were then greeted by a woman, probably in her late 40's, wearing square-rimmed glasses and an attire consisting of a button-up blouse, a pencil skirt, and heels. She deduced that this woman was the secretary.

The woman hadn't bothered to introduce herself, instead being quick and concise by asking them their names, giving them their schedules, and telling them that if they needed anything, Principal North was always available for appointments. Both sisters thanked her graciously before exiting the room.

"Well, Anna, I suppose this is where we part ways," Elsa said with a resigned sigh. It came to her as they were talking to the woman that there was nothing she could do — this was what she would have to endure for the next years.

Anna, however, could not be happier that classes were about to start. Everybody seemed to know each other in the high school; though that would usually discourage most people from trying to make friends, Anna was unlike most people, and she would try to be friendly to everyone.

"I know!" she practically squealed, attracting attention from passersby. Her smile softened though, as she addressed her sister, who looked as stiff and uncomfortable as ever. "Promise me you'll try," she said suddenly.

Elsa blinked, not knowing exactly what her sister was trying to convey. "Excuse me?"

"Promise me you'll try to make friends here— it wouldn't do you good to be isolated from everyone else."

A moment of silence passed, before the older girl sighed once more and gave a nod. "I promise. I'll try."

And she would. Again, if not for herself, then for Anna.

* * *

Elsa entered her first class; English, with Mr. Weselton. The man was a short, elderly, bespectacled man, who stood rigid and straighter than a board. He was the first in the classroom to notice her presence, and with a clear of the throat and a ruler to the board, he made sure everyone else did too.

She gulped. Twenty-four pairs of eyes, all on the new kid. How great.

"Ah, you must be the transferee!" Weselton said, and Elsa noted that his voice sounded just as pompous as his posture suggested; she didn't think he would classify as one of those kind teachers. "Well, well, miss, introduce yourselves to everyone!"

"I'm Elsa Arendelle," she began, raising her eyes to the class. Her father taught her that eye-contact was important when speaking to people — it would give them the impression that she wasn't intimidated by them, nor did she not pay them any respect by not looking at them while she spoke.

"Arendelle, as in the jewelry company?" a girl from the back asked; she was a brunette, with unusual violet eyes. Murmurs began in the class, and Elsa felt like groaning. So maybe she forgot to mention that her family owned a jewelry company, renowned in New York. But she hadn't really thought that that kind of information was relevant here in Burgess. When her parents died, she was then the heir to the company, being the firstborn child. She knew much about the family business, though of course she'd need more experience and information.

"Yes," she replied finally, after a moment of silence. The murmurs rose in volume at that, and she almost did groan — fortunately, Mr. Weselton not-so-gently tapped the ruler to the blackboard, which silenced them.

"Well, Miss Arendelle, it is a pleasure to have you in my class, you may sit next to Miss Tooth, over there." He pointed to the girl who recognized her family's business, who then gave her a sheepish smile and wave. Elsa took a deep breath and walked over to the back, not meeting the eyes of anybody as she did so. Once she was seated, the girl named Tooth then began to speak.

"Sorry about that," she said, sounding as sheepish as her smile, "I sparked up some conversation there, didn't I?"

The blonde's lips upturned slightly and she waved it off. "It's fine."

Tooth extended her hand. "I'm Toothiana; but you can just call me Tooth."

"I'm Elsa, as you and the class may already know," she replied, shaking the offered hand as the other gave a chuckle. Weselton was already droning on and on about grammar and prepositions; the board seemingly his primary conversational partner, but he does happen to turn to the students every once in a while for about a millisecond.

The blonde then wondered why she was even listening; prepositions were taught to her back in the eight grade in New York, she pretty much knew everything there was to learn.

"Psst, Elsa," came the hushed whisper of Tooth, whose eyes were trained to the board. "I couldn't help but notice you caught the attention of the Big Four back there."

Elsa, whose eyes were also glued to the blackboard in front of her, responded in an equally almost inaudible voice. "Who's that?" The other girl tore her eyes away from Weselton and the board, to point at four people sitting a few rows in front of them, two out of the four were obviously not listening.

"The pretty girl with the long blonde hair is Rapunzel Gothel," Tooth whispered, motioning to the girl who tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, looking up and taking notes every once in a while. "She's… well, a bit naive, but she's daring and adventurous, and kind." Tooth then pointed to the girl sitting in front of Rapunzel, a girl with curly red hair who was vigorously taking notes. "That one's Merida, Merida Dunbroch. Incredibly headstrong, free-spirited, and a bit of a tomboy." Next up was a scrawny brunet sitting next to Merida, having some kind of non-verbal communication with the last boy of the bunch. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," the girl grinned at the name, "though he prefers to be called Hiccup. Smart— so smart, in fact, that he doesn't need to listen to whatever Weselton is saying; but he's also a sarcastic smartass— personally, seeing him tell people off with his sass is pretty much the highlight of my day." The last boy was the boy sitting next to Rapunzel; stark white hair, blue eyes, average build. "Oh, that is Jack Frost." Tooth's voice came a little more breezy this time; and she sighed before she was able to continue. "Personally, I think he's the best looking of the bunch, and I'm sure my friends would agree with me on that. He's the guy you wouldn't bring home to your parents, all chaos and havoc and fun times. But ah, screw it." She then rested her chin on her palm as she stared at the back of Jack's head.

"You seem to know a lot about these people," Elsa remarked, noticing how the other girl pretty much had their whole personalities described.

"Because they're that popular! They pretty much rule the school," Tooth replied, still in her self-induced stupor.

The blonde bit back a groan for the nth time that day. Great, popular kids — she'd better do well to stay away. She fiddled with the ends of her braid, eyes flickering down to what little notes she had taken, only for them to flicker back up as she felt somebody staring at her.

Tentatively, her eyes rose to meet a pair of azure eyes, its owner sporting a smirk on his pale face.

"Jackson Overland Frost," Weselton called out, annoyed. "Eyes on the board, please."

Jack's eyes lingered on hers for a moment, the smirk still present on his face before he turned back to the board, just as the teacher _kindly _suggested. "Sir, yes sir!" Chuckles and giggles were then heard from the class.

It was then that Elsa decided that once the bell rang, she would avoid any member of the Big Four as much as possible.

_Sorry, Anna. I promised you I'd be making friends, but just not with these people._


End file.
